60 User Reviews of Paradise Cruise Ship

First, a little background. My husband and I took this 3 day
cruise to Baja for my 30th birthday. This was our first cruise and
I was 23 weeks pregnant at the time. We decided to take a little
"starter" cruise to see if we would enjoy the whole "cruise
experience" before we book a week or longer more expensive cruise.
Price was definitely an issue for this cruise. We did this on a
"bare bones budget".

Booking After spending countless hours on the internet
researching where and how to get the best deal, we ended up calling
Carnival's 800#. I'm very glad we did because not only did they
have the best rate and awesome customer service, but they told me
that the information on their website regarding pregnancy was
wrong. They recently changed their policy from 27 weeks to 24 weeks
maximum to be able to cruise. I would have been 26 weeks at the
time I wanted to cruise and would have been denied boarding, so I'm
very glad they gave me that little tidbit of info. Because of this
policy change we ended up booking at the

very last minute (5 days before departure), which worked out just
fine because the price went down by $60 a person! The customer
service rep that booked our trip gave us a free upgrade from the
Riviera deck to the Main deck and gave us a cabin made for four
people, we ended up in stateroom M220. She also walked us through
printing out our funpass since we were so close to our sail date
and she didn't want us to have any trouble. That was very
thoughtful. I also called Carnival back at least 3 times during the
5 days prior to my cruise to ask random questions, which I was full
of, and was never made to feel like I was a bother.

Embarkation According to Carnival embarkation starts at 1:30 pm,
but I had read several reviews that talked about boarding early and
having lunch so we decided to take our chances and get to the port
at about 11 am. What a great idea that was! I had read horror
stories about lost luggage when left with the porters, so we
decided we would carry on our own luggage. We got into a very short
line with our luggage and waited about 15 minutes before being
allowed to board. We walked right up to the counter with no wait,
showed our funpass, birth certificates, and IDs and gave them the
credit card we wanted to use for our "sail & sign" card
onboard. This took a grand total of 5 minutes and we were on our
way. We had two photos taken on our way onto the ship, you don't
have to stop but it's fun to get them done and there is no pressure
to purchase them at all. Once onboard we stopped in the Grand
Atrium and had a seat. We took this opportunity to grab a map and
read the information they gave us on the way in. The packet
explained that while they let us board early we would not be
allowed to go to our staterooms until 1:30 pm. They needed this
time to clean. So we headed up to the Lido deck and had lunch at
the buffet. At this point I was starting to regret having carried
on our own luggage as it was getting heavy and we weren't as free
to roam the ship. We had an hour and a half to wait so we found a
nice table by the window and began to relax. Within 15 minutes I
discovered I needed to take the motion sickness pills the ship
offered. Even though we were still in port looking out the window
of a moving ship made me dizzy. So off I went to the information
desk, I'm very glad they offered them for free. I took them
regularly every 10-12 hours. As soon as I felt any dizziness I took
another pill and I was great. I never got nauseous at all, I praise
God for those pills!

Cruise We were very pleasantly surprised by the size of our
stateroom. There was plenty of closet space, a king size bed, and
lots of light. The bathroom really shocked us, we were expecting
tiny but we were both able to fit in it comfortably together. It
was very clean and felt nice and comfortable.

We had requested the 6:15 pm sitting for dinner but were
assigned to the 8:30 sitting. When we checked the daily itinerary
that would have meant that we would have missed all the shows and
games we were interested in, so we went to the maitre d' as
instructed to see if we could get it changed. This was our first
task at trying to find something on the ship. Needless to say we
got very lost and ended up going in through the back door of the
restaurant. But once we found him the maitre d' was very kind and
helpful. He changed our time to 5:45 pm with no trouble. Remember
the maitre d' is one of the few people that are not included when
you purchase the prepaid gratuities, so he really appreciates a few
dollars.

The food on the ship was wonderful. The 24 hour pizza and ice
cream were just what the doctor ordered. The lunch buffet was
beautifully done and delicious. We were able to sample everything.
The selections in the dining room were very impressive. I ordered
as many appetizers and entrees as I desired without feeling strange
and when I didn't like the dressing on the Caesar salad I was
brought soup instead right away. We ate breakfast in both the
dining room and the buffet and enjoyed it immensely. I liked the
atmosphere of the dining room but liked the freedom of having the
buffet open until 11 am for breakfast. My husband and I do not
drink so we had the juice and tea that was complimentary with
meals. However by the end of the first day I discovered that I
needed to purchase the soda card so I could receive beverages at
the bars throughout the ship and from the waiters during the shows.
While tea, coffee, juice, and milk are always available at the
buffet on the lido deck, and you are perfectly welcome to take your
beverage with you wherever you go, it was not very convenient when
sitting in a show at the front end of the ship to walk all the way
to the back to grab a drink. So I purchased the soda card and had a
great time ordering from every bar I passed and at every show or
game we went to. Gratuity is already added to the purchase price of
the card and the serving staff are included in the prepaid
gratuities so I did not feel pressured at all to tip any additional
amount with each drink I ordered.

One more tidbit of advice, go ahead and complete the room
service breakfast order sheet you will find in your stateroom. Even
if you are planning to eat breakfast in the dining room it's great
to have some fresh fruit, coffee, and a bagel delivered to your
door when you first wake up. Since you will want a drink before you
leave your room and the mini-bar sodas are $4 apiece you can save
yourself some unnecessary expense by ordering breakfast. Plus you
will be hungry again by the time you get through the shower, get
dressed and are ready to head to the dining room for a waffle. The
portion sizes are kept small, which I appreciated since I was able
to sample and graze constantly without stuffing myself.

There was plenty to do on the ship without spending any
additional money. Lots of window shopping, games, karaoke, shows,
not to mention the pool and Jacuzzi. We had a great time playing
miniature golf on the top of the ship, and sitting in the Jacuzzi
under the stars. Since we weren't interested in the "adult" comedy
show, we would take advantage of the Jacuzzi at 10 pm when no one
else was out there. We had a lot of wind and bit of rain on one of
the days so we never went in the pool, not warm enough. We stayed
away from the lido deck during the peak hours when many a drunken
college age man could be found doing "body shots" off a scantily
clad woman. (I thought this was a family cruise?) But really it
wasn't that bad, everyone on the cruise was very nice. The staff
was exceptional. Not a grumpy expression the whole time.

The shows were excellent. I have no idea how those girls can
dance like that in high heels on a moving ship, but they do a great
job! I would recommend sitting on the lower level if you are a
person who likes "getting into the action." The people in the
balcony tend to be "fuddy duddies." We skipped playing bingo at $10
a card and decided to spend our $10 in the casino. We got an hour's
worth of fun at the slot machines and video poker for our money, so
I think it was worth it. The TV in the stateroom has a channel that
will show you exactly how to play all of the casino games so you
don't have to feel like an idiot when you head down there for the
first time.

We were only in our stateroom for sleeping (wink wink) so I
wouldn't have spent the extra money to upgrade to an ocean view or
a veranda, it would have been wasted on us. There were always
things to do on the ship, and when we arrived in Ensenada it was
time to explore. We were a little nervous because we hadn't planned
any shore excursions, and instead we decided to go it alone. I'm
very glad we did. The tourist area consists of about 3 square
blocks. You would not want to venture any further. Once off the
ship there was a small shopping area right in port and busses that
took you into downtown and back for $3 a person. The entire drive
they try to sell you on taking their bus tour to the blowhole for
$25 a person, but they do it in an entertaining way so it's still
fun. We decided to stay in the downtown shopping area and pick up
some souvenirs for the kids. We had a great time walking through
all the shops and finding just the right trinket for each person on
our list. A bit of advice, never buy from the people on the street.
No matter what kind of deal you think you are getting you will find
it cheaper at a shop a few doors down. Trust me on this. Also,
don't buy Chiclets for $1. Those kids are being exploited and
giving them money only perpetuates the problem.

After a couple of hours we had finished exploring every store
within the 3 blocks and were ready to head back to the ship for
lunch. We took the bus ride back, had a wonderful lunch at the
buffet and were ready to head to a game of "Battle of the Sexes"
when my husband broke his belt. This meant it was time for more
shopping. Off the ship we went. We decided not to take the bus this
time since we knew where we were going and we now knew that the
walk was only 5-10 minutes. Shopping for something specific that
you need is much different than just looking for souvenirs. But we
were again pleasantly surprised by how nice people were. We would
walk into a shop and ask if they had belts, if they didn't they
would gladly tell us exactly where we could get one with a genuine
smile. We ended up getting a very nice belt for $15, the lady even
changed the buckle to fit my husband's taste. We were pleased.

Disembarkation Unfortunately the time came when we had to leave
the ship. We had two choices, we could carry off our own luggage
and leave anytime or we could pack up the night before and leave
our luggage in the hall to be taken off by the crew. If we left our
luggage out we would have to wait until they called our "zone".
Once our zone had been called we could leave anytime after that. My
husband was not comfortable with leaving our luggage outside our
room (neither was I, just seemed weird) so we elected to carry it
off ourselves. Most people elected to carry their own luggage so
they could leave the ship early. This seemed strange to me as I was
in no hurry to leave. We woke up and had breakfast at the buffet
before heading back to our room to pack. I noticed the line to
debark. It started at the bar in the grand atrium and was packed
all the way down the ramp. People stood there for over an hour
holding their luggage to get off the ship. I couldn't understand
why they would do such a thing when they could be sitting down
relaxing and having a nice breakfast. We packed up and left our
stateroom at about 9 am. There was still quite a line to debark so
we headed up to the Lido deck to wait and have a drink. The buffet
was open so we had a snack and glass of tea and enjoyed the
beautiful day. We took this opportunity to go check out all the
pictures they had taken of us and purchase a couple. They are quite
pricey and great quality so it was very tempting to blow our
budget. We decided to buy a very nice 8x10 of us for $23 and a
beautiful sandwich frame that came with a photo of the ship for $5.
It was well worth it. At about 10:15 am the line was gone and they
started calling all of the "zones" to debark. So we grabbed our
luggage and off the ship we went. We made it through customs and
out into the real world within 30 minutes. I would highly recommend
relaxing and waiting on the ship the morning of debarkation.

If at all possible make your flight late enough that you don't
have to rush and can enjoy the last moments of your cruise.

There is absolutely nothing negative I can say about our
experience. It was truly a God-given vacation and I am very
grateful for it. We did have a day of rocky seas, but as long as I
kept up on my motion-sickness pills I had no problem. I will
definitely cruise again, and probably on Carnival. They did a great
job at a great price and had awesome service.

History: my 13th cruise, 6th on Carnival. Being the Paradise was
the last of the Fantasy class ships it was what I expected. I do
prefer the newer Spirit & Conquest class, however was going to
be in LA and couldn't pass up the low cost of this 4-night sailing!
Plus got an automatic upgrade from a 6A to 6D (ocean view) on the
Empress deck. Our cabin was midship and in a nice location for easy
access to all the public areas.

Since I am from the east coast we flew into LAX the day prior
and also stayed 2 extra days in the Los Angeles area after the
sailing to make it a week vacation.

Check-in at Long Beach: Well lets just say I have had smoother
check-in's, however it seemed that most people arrived early at the
terminal. When we arrived about 12:15 there was a long line that
'snaked' around outside of the terminal. Once they opened the doors
they would let people in by groups I would say 25 or so at a time.
I assume this was to prevent massive congestion inside the terminal
building.

Overall it wasn't too bad and we were on the ship about 1:30 or so.
Cabins were not ready until about 2PM so we had a drink at the
atrium bar until they opened the firedoors to access the cabins.
Unpacked our carryon's then up to the Lido for lunch.

Food: Fair to Poor. I have had much better meals on Carnival. It
was hit or miss in the Destiny dining room where we had late 8PM
seating as requested. The Paris restaurant on the Lido was typical
Carnival buffet, not much to comment about here since I feel a
buffet is just that a quick grab and go meal. Pizza was always
fresh and good!

Entertainment: here again I feel Carnival needs to update their
shows. The past couple of cruises I have been on at least one, if
not both of the productions were repeats that I already saw on
other ships in the fleet. Also compared to some of the shorter 4
& 5 day cruises I have taken on the east coast there was much
more activity on board regarding music and entertainment. On this
cruise there was not one deck party the entire time? They did have
a live band playing poolside each afernoon, but nothing at night on
deck. Found it to be very mellow for a short Carnival sailing.

Ports of call were Catalina & Ensenada. Have never been to
either and really enjoyed Catalina Island. Ensenada I don't think
we would ever return! Again compared to the Caribbean port calls in
Mexico i.e. Cozumel, Costa Maya we found Ensenada to be NOT
attractive at all. We did book a shore tour to 'La Bufadora' (the
Blowhole), it was interesting and a good photo-op to see but the
open air flea market you had to pass thru first was terrible! Never
had so many locals practically following you as you walked to get
you to buy something! That got to be very annoying after a while
and we couldn't wait to get back on the bus. We found a place to
sit and have a Margarita since neither of us were looking to
buy.

The staff & crew were very friendly and helpful, and the
overall appearance of the ship was in decent condition except for a
few items just from normal wear & tear. Again this is Carnival
and the public areas showed it with the 'gawdy' decor that it's
known for!

Overall we had a relaxing cruise and met some nice people that
were our dining mates. Again value for dollar it was a 'no brainer'
approx $80 per day/person is what it broke down to! I love to
cruise and have learned nothing is ever perfect. I would recommend
it for anyone looking to getaway without breaking the bank! Also a
good experience for first time cruisers.

This was our 5th cruise including 3 on carnival 1 on the
norweigen dawn and one on the royal carribians flagship the empress
of the seas haha. We flew in to lax and meet the rest of our 7
person party for this halloween cruise. 4 people took a cab and it
woulda been cheaper to take the 16 dollar shuttle for our 3 person
cab because it was 55 for the taxi. Embarkation was a breeze, they
made me take my mp3 player off for some esoteric reason, more on
the unfortunate case of the mp3 player later.

We spent the first hour getting adjusted to the ship and
laughing at a member of our party who had taken the this ship last
year but couldnt remember where anything was related to the
copiuous amounts of alchohol he imbibed. The aforementioned
intoxicated member did remeber enough from te last cruise to tell
us we should do the 3 day weekend cruise as opposed to the 4 day
weekay crise beacuse the weekend cruise was a way bigger party. We
have cruised on this class of ship before on the

elation so we were familiar with the layout of the ship and like
it, all the lounges are together and close to the casiono so its
just a huge party towards the back of the ship and u can do your
own drunken pub crawl from place to place. When we returned to our
room our bags were there and we proceeed to unpack. A coworker of
mine was sharing our stateroom so she had a fold down bed, our
stateroom had plenty of room as carnival ussually does and this is
why like to cruise carnival with our 3 year old daughter.

THat evening we enjoyed our sdiner however now that we have been
on other crusies the food didnt seem as good as good as our first
cruise to the mexican riviera on the elation. Norweigen dawns extra
priced restaurants are of course better but their regular
restaurants fare is not as good. Carnivals deserts are definately
the best. After dinner we got ready to party and headed over to the
nightclub, the rex. The dj was good but unfortunately had to play
music from all time periods so would clear the dance floor with
some old lame song everyonce in awhile. The price of beer seems to
have increased and so I paid like 20 bucks for 4 beers the first
night. This ship this date was definately down to party we had
mostly 20-30 year old people on the ship with some groups of single
ladies in their mid thirty to forties and a few honeymooning
couples, i only counted about 20 teens and less smaller children
than that. Our hallway had a party most evenings with people
drinking alchohol and fratrinizing. All but one of our party went
to bed about midnight that night but we stayed up till 2 am and
enjoyed the comedy show.

The next morning we arrived in ensenada and got off the ship
about 1230, having read earlier that the trip to the blowhole " la
bufadora" was about an hour long and not that exciting we didnt
book it through carnival for 58 dollars. On our 3 dollar taxicab
ride to town one of the local tourguides talked us in to going to
la bufadora for 15 bucks, after being questioned repetedly he
assured us it was only a 20 minute ride! however 4 members of our
party just wanted to sit @ papas and beers and drink anyway and
seeings as how the open container laws seem to be much more lax in
mexico we bought 4 buckets of coronas and partied on the way to the
blowhole.

Holy shamolies ensenada is the most expensive town we have ever
shopped in with most sale items being twice as expensive as you can
find in your local swapmeet. other mexican towns and the carribeen
offer a much better value. but we didnt take this cruise to shop,
the blowhole was kinda interesting. and it was time to get back to
the ship for our formal ight. on the wa back we stoped at ensenada
proper for some more expensive shopping and some tacos down the
streets from papas and beers.

I like the fact that the ports have good security and check all
passengers coming back with a metal detector twice and id's. This
reminds me of our last cruise in cabo where a mexican soldier
trianed his m 16 on me for stepping of the dock totry to get a
picture of a crab on a rock!. We dressed up for formal night and
had our picture taken. then prepared for another fun night, this
time the rest of our party napped after ensenada and were able to
go to the club with us the music was good again and we stayed out
till about 2 am. We also enjoyed some time in the hottub before
lunch, personally id light to soak in a hot tube after midnight but
they always close them too early.

The last day at sea was the best, we always enjoy days at sea, i
was up early @ 6 in the morning and went for some pilates yoga a 2
mile run and then ab work before 8am, we had breakfast in the
formal dining room again and the omlettes were good the eggs
benadict was a little dry the 2nd morning. My wife and coworker
spent the morning getting mini spa treatments and their teeth
whitened, i relaxed in the poolside hottub. So we were exited to do
the survivor and amazing race events that afternoon but there were
sceduled for the same time? why? So we asked and were told amazing
race would be better because the pool was out of commision related
to a kids previous accident. We took first place in the amazing
race which was a combination scavenger hunt and boat trivia
competition. The best thing about wining was the 12 day trip to
australia we one for our victory" in that leg of the race" ha no
actually it was being able to carry the trophy around for the rest
of the nght and anounce ''attention passengers amazing race
champions are now entering the pool area". So we then had lunch and
prepared to put on our costumes for the halloween bash. A crazy
couple were already running around @ 1700 with a sexy cop and fat
"scurity guard" so we figured wed change as well. My wife had a
sexy gheisha girl costume and i was a kung fu warrior our friend
was a bier garten girl, the dance party in the open bar between the
casino and lounge and dance club was crazy so we danced there and
took pictures for about an hour. The sit down diner was next and t
kinda put a downer on the night next time we might skip it and just
dance and party all night.

Debarktion was also easy as we had an early flight bpoarding @
1150 we went to the normandie lounge and got off in about 45
minutes, after an uneventful taxi to the airport and flight home
here i am preparing to go the the store to get another mp3 player
cause one of the stewards or stewards assistants must have taken it
we will try calling carnival and see if it has been turned into
lost and found now that they realize they cant change the songs
without the software. We will definately do this same cruise next
year for halloweeen!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ps watch for a future post as to
wether my pilfered mp3 player is returned to me

To celebrate our 10th Anniversary, my partner & I booked a
2-week cruise to through the Mediterranean next May with my mother
and aunt. As any cruise-addict knows, once you get that cruise-bug
under your skin, you have to scratch it... And May seems soooooo
far away! So we thought we'd satiate our appetite with a quick
3-Day New Years' cruise out of Long Beach over the New Years'
Holiday Weekend. There were two choices: Carnival or Princess.
Since our Mediterranean cruise is Princess, we thought we'd give
Carnival another try (Our first cruise a Carnival Spirit
positioning cruise). Interestingly, the Carnival Paradise,
showed up in dry dock here in San Francisco in early December and
was getting an overhaul of the spa, casino, and fitness areas. What
luck. New facilities to check out, too! There were 3 of us going on
the cruise. My partner & I, and a newbie friend who'd never
been on a cruise before, but was excited to give it a try. After
checking the costs online, we were disappointed to see that the
price was jacked up almost DOUBLE the normal cost for New Years.
So to save money we booked all 3 of us in the same room. This was a
big risk since my partner is 6'3" and over 300lbs, and our newbie
friend is 6'8"! I wasn't too worried about this, because on the
last 3 cruises we've done in the past, we've always just used the
Spa facilities to clean-up in the morning. There's always been a
LOT more room, you can take your time, and and since the ship had a
new spa, I figured it was a good bet. Check-in: Fast and efficient.
The people were very nice. Unfortunately, they didn't have our Sail
& Sign Cards. Something about a cabin change.... So they said
we'd have to get them on board. This turned out to be a major pain,
because you have to SHOW your pass a few more times to get on the
ship. Which meant we had to hold up the line and show our passports
a few times before finally getting on the ship. Once on, we stopped
at the purser's desk we were greeted with our first disappointment:
Riveria Deck.... The very bottom of the ship. No biggie. We'll
live. Cabin: We were happy to find that our cabin was plenty big
for the 3 of us. However it was set up for only 2 people, so we
located our steward who happily reconfigured the beds as twins. I
slept in the fold-down bed and it was just fine. However I hadn't
noticed that the other two got nice cushy down comforters to keep
warm! I got the comforter by the 2nd night and slept much better.
The bathroom was big enough, the ceilings were even high enough for
our 6'8" friend.... Overall, very happy with the cabin. Ship: So we
headed off on the ship tour. Everyone knows this is one of the best
parts of the cruise: Getting to know your ship. The interior design
was straight out of the late 80's/early 90's. Roaming color
"Pin-Point" signage (think: Vegas!) was annoying to read. Brushed
aluminum. Dark woods. All seemed very dated. The elevators were not
all working and the ones that were working were scratched up pretty
bad. The sun deck was basically a massive expanse of decking. Which
seemed bleak. The hot tubs are right out in the middle of
everything, which didn't seem very intimate. I would suspect this
is why they didn't get much use. The Normandie Lounge: It was
so-so. Two levels. The seating was annoying as there's big round
booths on the 1st floor, which were meant to seat 6-8 people, but
there were often taken up by only 2, who sat smack in the middle.
Once they sat there, it was awkward for others to sit in the seat
in front of them. Or scoot in with them. The other seating on the
1st floor was flat bench-like seating. We opted to sit on the 2nd
floor where it was more stadium-like. However almost every seat was
blocked somewhere by the 4-6 poles holding up the ceiling. That was
a bummer. The Shows: Were pretty good. There were two shows with
similar themes. The singers were pretty good. The special effects
and choreography were great. The band did a fantastic job and were
very good. The late night comedian was funny. No major standouts,
but was certainly entertaining. Not overly long either... The
Casino: Was nice with new slot machines. Probably from the overhaul
while in dry dock in San Francisco. They've also adopted a
"Cash-Free" system which allows you to debit form the Sail &
Sign card. That was nice. So we never had to go to the Cashier and
you can cash out TO the card or Cash in FROM the card. A nice
touch. The slots were tight (as expected) but there was a lot of
choice for a small casino. Lounges: There were several lounges
which didn't have a whole lot of distinct characteristics, save the
American Lounge with Brady. He was fun and a nice guy. We enjoyed
sitting and watching him sing. He took requests and was quite
talented. The Nautica Spa: This was a major disappointment. The
bathroom had only 3 showers, two of which weren't working for most
of the trip. No hooks to hang your robes on. Not much room to use
the sink for shaving. The scale was RIGHT in front of the entrance
door, so I suspect there were more than one suprised person who
stood on it naked only to have the door opened wide and the entire
lobby staring at them. The Steam room only fit 3 people and the Dry
Sauna barely worked at all. Very disappointed compared to the
luxurious spas I've been in on other ships. The silver lining was
the all the equipment was brand new and they had some of the latest
technology. Nonetheless, it was not going to be a substitute for
our own st The Food: Another major disappointment. If there was
consistency with Dinner, it as A) Always cold, B) Always terrible,
and C) Always wrong. Our waiter was unresponsive to our needs. The
other people at our table were surprised at his ineptness as well.
Some nights the cocktail waitress showed up halfway through the
meal. The descriptions of the food were in accurate... Example:
"Tiger Prawn with Scallop"... Was basically a tiny shrimp with a
tiny, cold overcooked scallop on top. Flavorless and hardly
appetizing. The Lobster Humidor was completely uneatable. I
actually gagged. And I'm pretty hearty when it comes to food. On
the final night, we just gave up and ate at the Paris Buffet where
we at least knew what we were getting... And we could be sure it
was at least warm. As a side note, when we were headed back to the
room the Headwaiter was in the elevator with us and happened to
ask, "How was dinner?". To which we replied in unison, "Awful". His
reply, "Sorry to hear that..." A good Headwaiter would at least
probe what they can do to improve. He didn't seem to want to know
[what he already was aware of.] Disembarking: It took us far too
long to get off the ship. Granted it was a rainy day in Long Beach,
but it was far too disorganized on board the ship. There was a line
of people that was hundreds of people deep and the end of the line
was unclear. This meant for a lot of line-jumping and angry people
who were told it was time to get off the ship, then had to stand in
line for another hour before they could actually leave. We stood in
line for 45 minutes to disembark, only to round the elevators and
watch people exit the elevators and get right into line. The crew
could have manned the line better to make it more obvious where
people should stand and to not call colors until the line was more
manageable. Conclusion: While there were some bright spots (our
room, our steward, the entertainment) but overall we had a lot of
explaining to do to our newbie... We're sure he'll do a cruise
again, as will we, however it'll be difficult to choose another
Carnival Cruise based upon this experience. I kept thinking, "Thank
God it's only 3 Days in the Pacific and not 2 WEEKS in the
Mediterranean!" Bad food and bad service is only tolerable for so
long. I can only hope our experience in May through the
Mediterranean with my Mother & aunt (another newbie) on the Sea
Princess is more memorable... In the good way...

When we decided to sail on the M/V Paradise it started out for
one reason, to celebrate my 50th birthday, but a couple of reasons
also popped up along the way. One was to try out noise canceling
headphones (worked like a charm) and to see if my wife can handle
an inside cabin. My wife gets a touch claustrophobic when she can't
see outside. So with this in mind, off we went on a 4 day
cruise.

Arriving at Long Beach airport from a short flight from Seattle
was like stepping back in time. I can't explain it, you have to
experience it for yourself to really enjoy the atmosphere. Cabs
were plentiful and we were off. We were going to use Primetime
Shuttle but they had called and said they would not be running on
Monday, but that was not too bad since the cab ride was $5
cheaper!

Now at the drop off and pickup stations this was where the
confusion started. Let's just say the stevedores did not really
seem to know what was going on, but we were able to get our luggage
on, I think we

were the last ones to drop off for a bit until their act got
together. Off to check in we go.

Got to the terminal at approx 11:30am and we were sent to early
check-in on the Queen Mary. Wow was it slow, but everyone was
happy, lots of talk and banter going on. It was fun listening in on
folks talking about smuggling in alcohol. From what I gathered no
one got caught! After check in, we were off to the next line and
every line was moving. At this time one of the Carnival personal
saw my wife with her surgery boot and cane, and allowed us ahead of
the line processing and we were on the ship with in 10 minutes. So
check-in took about 1 hour and 10 minutes. So off to the Lido Deck
for some food and a bucket of beer.

Getting to our cabin was pretty easy and off we went to drop off
our carry on. We had an inside cabin located aft on the upper deck,
and we found it to be of pretty good size for a cruise ship. Plenty
of storage space for a 4 day cruise and the suitcases fit under the
bunk nicely. The Head (bathroom) was also, we thought, a pretty
good size, not too big and not too small, and the shower we thought
was perfect. One problem with the shower we found out later was it
liked to change the temperature of the water. Really hot then super
cold, made it interesting to shower! But like everything, we
learned to deal with it and it became a laughing matter and a
chance to chat with other cruisers.

On our first tour around the ship we checked out the places we
might want to go and found the ship to be in pretty good shape.
With crew members constantly cleaning all parts of the ship day and
night. The inside of the ship we thought was done very nice, not
too glitzy, and not too bright. The use of mostly brown tones with
a touch of blue, green and yellow seemed tone it all down. Lots of
wood trim around and I noticed none of it damaged. Back for a
couple of buckets of beer and off to sail away. Very uneventful and
off to dinner we go.

Early dinner at Destiny table 296 turned out to be the
assignment, what a great group of tablemates we had! We were team
red and, well, we had to carry the colors! We all took red names.
Mine was Red Wine and Sue was Red Lobster. First night is lobster
night. Did not hear a complaint. I don't like lobster so I did not
partake of the shell fish, I had dead cow! Our wait staff was
wonderful, they were always there to help and/or take our orders,
we did not want for anything. Our tablemates found out the second
day that they could have asked for more lobster if they wanted it,
but after the first day they tried it all! The Maitre'd was
wonderful, he even seemed to enjoy the antics at our table. Day 2
brought out the Billy Bob teeth. The look on everyone's face was
wonderful, that made it funnier! Day 3 one of our tablemates DH was
lost, and she was concerned, the Maitre'd called to see if he had
checked in and was going to do it again when the husband finally
showed up. Day 4 brought out the WWF masks. Again the looks on
everyone's face was worth it. At this time we had gotten everyone
around us to get a touch rowdy. So the dinning room was fun, and
classy! The wait staff did the conga line and the parade stuff and
most of them seem to enjoy the hoots and hollers and of course the
applause. The food was pretty good, not perfect but I don't ask for
that. The Beef Wellington did seem a touch off and was mentioned by
several of us. But the gravy was able to cover it up. All other
meals I did not have a problem with and was plenty in size for me
and my wife.

The shows that we went to, most I would not write home about.
The R-Rated comedian was okay but not what I thought it would be.
Oh well, a few buckets of beer took care of that. The magic show we
tried to see but Bingo players had the good seats. We found out
most of the seats in the upper sections of the Normandy Lounge are
poor, so we left and a couple buckets of beer later we did not
care. We did get to see "Shout" and found it to be pretty good. The
dancers did a wonderful job.

The crew members of the ship were very friendly and they were
always ready to greet you and seemed to be genuine. The bar wait
staff were able to take a no with no problem and were always
friendly. But we did not have to say no to many times. Those
buckets of beer just did not seem to stop, also those Fun Ship
drinks seem to find their way into our hands! Also those with soda
cards did not get fountain soda, they got canned soda. At the many
bars we stopped at not one bartender refused or treated them any
different from the booze drinkers

The other meals that we ate came from the other places. We did
eat at the Destiny Room once for breakfast and it was pretty nice,
got to meet other folks, including a couple from England. Talk
included tea and politics, the English couple were great and fun.
All other breakfast meals were eaten at the Paris buffet. Loved the
omelets, and the cook would add other stuff from the buffet. The
buffet line was the standard fare of eggs, pancakes, etc. The wife
did not complain at what she ate, so it must have been okay. Lunch
was had at the pizza bar and pool grill. The pepperoni was good and
goes well with a bucket of beer. The hamburgers and the pool grill
were okay, but I had the hot dogs and enjoyed them. They too went
well with a bucket of beer. The Calypso band at the pool was pretty
good, but had a limited song list. Yes, we heard the same songs
again, but we did not care, again the bucket of beer can help out
anything.

Our ports of call included Catalina and Ensanada. Catalina was
nice, pretty and calm. We rented a golf cart and did the tour and
got so lost! We ended going down roads we were not suppose to be
on, but no one cared. Toured the Catalina museum it's small but I
like neat stuff like that, and it looks like they are going to
expand it. All in all, Catalina is nice little place to stop.
Getting on and off was pretty easy, they had plenty of tenders
running at all times.

Ensanada. What can I say! It's Mexico. We did the wine country
tour and we found it enjoyable. Enjoyed hearing about Mexican
history. I really like hearing folks talk about there country with
pride. Oh, the wine tour, well it goes to 2 wineries, one larger
and the other a small one. Nothing was going on (wrong time of year
for grapes), but we were able to see the ageing barrels. Each
winery had a wine tasting and they had some good wine. The last one
gave out a free bottle to every one, and I enjoyed the red wine
that evening at dinner. That afternoon we spend time shopping
downtown. Papa&Beer was hopping and we did not really like the
music we heard, so we skipped it. After dinner we went up on deck
and watched sail way. We got to watch the last three folks come
back. One left something in a car and had to run and go get it. You
had to be there to, trust me it was funny. Much applause was heard
on deck and she did not care.

Our cabin steward did a wonderful job, we only met him once, but
we knew he was around. Those towel critters were cute and we
enjoyed them. Night 3 we got the elephant and we had him pose in
the fake window ledge for a few pictures, and steward must have
thought that was a good idea as he left it there. Made the cabin a
little more homey.

As with most cruises, they come to an end. So now you have to go
through disembarkation. They go by colors, and we were purple and
our color was called about 9:15am. Getting off the ship was easy
and we were on our way to customs and immigration at 9:35.
Immigration took about a half hour and this was the most grumbling
I heard. Once through it was a hop and skip to pick up luggage and
out to pick up our shuttle. Our porter was wonderful, he was not
pushy, he just offered to help. We told him when our flight was and
he told us places to go while waiting for our 5pm flight. We were
free and clear by 10:30 and waiting to go to the Long Beach
airport.

Well, was this cruise perfect? I would say no, but it was very
good and we enjoyed ourselves a lot. Would we go on this same
cruise again? I would say yes. Would I sail with Carnival again? I
would say yes. Would that cruise be better? Maybe. Worst? Most
likely not.

Any questions feel free to contact use and ask questions Hope
you all enjoyed this

We went on the Paradise June 20th and did the Eastern cruise.
Embarkation went very well, do not try to sneak and liquor on a
carry on, they do check and they do take it away. We mean't to put
a bottle of rum in a checked bag and forgot to do that and they did
find our bottles of soda and a bottle of rum. We did get to keep
the soda but had to leave the bottle of rum at port, we did get it
back when we got off the ship.

We got on the ship and it was a very pretty and clean ship. It
is nice to go on a ship that is smoke free, but won't be for very
much longer. They will be stopping the smoke free ship in
September.

Our room to us didn't seem as big as on the Sensation, but we
also had 4 people in an inside room. There was plenty of storage
for all 4 of us. The cabin was very clean.

We requested early-but the later seating and got the 5:45
instead of the 6:15. We went

to the Maitred' and he told us that the later one was full unless
we wanted the late late seating and we declined. We wish we had
gotten the later seating because trying to get 4 people ready for
dinner by 5:45 was nearly impossible, especially when you have 2
teenage girls.

We ate in the Destiny Dining Room, which to us was the prettier
one of the two. The food was very good! The service wasn't all that
great, and it seems since they switched to the automatic tipping,
the waiters and waitresses do not go out of their way for you. The
waiters and waitresses sang every night, which was very
entertaining.

As for the entertainment, not as good as on other boats! The
theater has very poor seating, and you have to get there early to
get a good seat. They have huge posts that are hard to see around.
They didn't have much to choose from as far as shows go. They had
bands playing in the small lounges that weren't bad.

The drinks on board were not too bad in price. We bought the
drink tickets ahead of time and it did save some money. We did not
buy the soda card since we did bring some soda and water on board
with us. There was always iced tea, punch, apple juice and orange
juice and lemonade 24 hours a day. There was also soft serve ice
cream 24 hours along with their pizza.

Their main pool was rather small, but there were always plenty
of chairs available.

Excursions, we did our own in Nassau, took the bus #10 to cable
beach, very nice beach, and then we went back and went to the straw
market. We also did buy some liquor, and ended up walking on the
ship and they never took it away from us. The ship does sell their
own liquor too, which is also reasonable. The cheapest liquor that
we found was in St.Thomas, Bacardi Rum was $6.49 a bottle.
CHEAP.

In the Dominican we were suppose to do 2 excursions, the
excursion desk said that we would have plenty of time to get 2
excursions in, NOT. We did the catamaran experience to Catalina
Island, we were suppose to be back by 11:30, and didn't get back
until 2:30 so we missed out Outback Safari. The catamaran excursion
was fun, free beer, soda and rum and coke. Also fresh fruit. We
went and anchored near Catalina Island and snorkeled and then swam
up to the beach. On the way back, the party started going and they
got everyone to dance. We all did have a good time. When we got
back we hired a taxi with 8 others and went into La Ramona and did
some shopping. Amber is really reasonable. Coffee, best coffee, buy
it at their supermarket, it is cheaper $1.50 a pound.

In St.Thomas we went on our own and took a taxi to Magens Bay.
We stayed there about 3 hours and then came back and were dropped
off down town. Went and did some jewelry shopping at our friends
Ballerina, we have dealt with them for 10 years. And then went to
the open market and back to the ship.

Our days at sea were very relaxing! Layed by the pool.

Disembarkation went very well, we were off the boat before
10:00.

As far as this being our best cruise we have taken, it probably
wasn't, but the food was very good. The ship was in great shape,
and it was worth the money. This was our second time we have been
on a Carnival ship, we usually go on Princess. If you cannot have a
good time on any cruise you take, then there is something wrong :}
We did meet a lot of nice people through the message board on
"Cruise Mates".

Cabin-Sea View As expected with good amnenities and a wonderful
view of the sea.

Food Fair to very good.The Grand Marnier Souffle was outstanding
whilst the lobster was like trying to eat an eraser!!

Dining Room Service. Pleasant and unhurried, We had late seating
which really makes a difference re the relaxing dining
experience.

Cruise Director and his staff. Jeff Bronson was rather juvenile
at times and his assistants were forgettable.

Entertainment. The main shows were excellent. Others including
the majicians and comedians were no more than fair.

Shops. Lots of variety with something for all budgets.

Ship's Officers and Staff For the most part very friendly
although we did encounter the occasional "sour puss" in the Paris
dining room on the Lido deck.

Room Steward. We rarely saw him. However he frequently did not
replace wet towels and used drinking glasses unless we asked him to
do so.

Shore Excursions. Apart from the Stingray Encounter in Nassau
they were dreadfully disappointing and definately not worth the
money. Catalina Island in the D. R.was an ordinary beach full of
beach sellers and pushers who rarely left us

alone. Trunk Bay in St. John was a sensational beach but it was
extremely crowded and very few fish were to be seen during the
snorkelling. Time at the beach just 40 minutes. It was advertised
as a 4 1/2 hour excursion. Overall rating for this cruise 7 out of
10.

Finally we learned the following lessons: Never go to the
Caribbean in the Summer unless you enjoy extreme temperatures on
board ship and on land. Make lots of enquiries re shore excursions
not operated by the cruise line you are taking. Don't take back to
back to back cruises to the same area with the same cruise line
within a period of 18 months. It's a case of same old, same old and
same old.

The night before the sailing we stayed at the Sheraton Biscayne
Bay. (an excellent choice) They allowed us to check in at 10AM.
(since that is when we had arrived) This hotel is convenient to Bay
Front. (where all the shops and restaurants are) The room was a
good size and the staff was very friendly.

The next morning, it was a short drive to the ship. We had our
car, so we dropped the luggage and hubby took the car to the
garage. I thought I had read they took credit card, but it was cash
only on that morning to park. ( $70.00 ) So just be prepared for
either way. It is a nice parking garage, so your car is out of the
elements during the week.

We arrived at 11:00AM. They had just started letting the line
move. It went quickly for us, since we had the Fun Pass and all our
documents properly filled out and signed. We picked up our keys and
went to the holding room. This port is a little more disorganized
than others we have been to where the hold room

is concerned. The lady seating the guests was not making sure all
the chairs were filled. And when it came time for boarding, she had
no control over the situation. Everyone just got up and headed for
the pictures. The rest of the embarkation went smoothly. We were
having our picture taken by noon and headed for our cabins to drop
off the carry on luggage. They were ready. I pulled out the can of
Lysol and disinfected both rooms thoroughly, while the guys went up
to get in the pizza line.

Our rooms (for the 4 of us) were R 87 and 91. We always book the
cheapest inside we can get; while maintaining the location we like.
Whether 4 to a room or 2 to a room, we have always had plenty of
space. (and our 16 year old is 6' 2") Our cabin steward was quiet,
but very efficient. He never introduced himself, but always got the
job done and when we finally realized which one was ours..we would
speak and he would always return our greetings with a smile. By the
end of the cruise, he was more talkative. He is probably just very
shy. But he got an A+ from us for the job he did and that is all
that matters. The safe was big. Cruising suggestion..use a credit
card to open and lock your safe. The magnetic strip on the back of
your room key is not a good enough quality to handle this kind of
use for a week.

Room service was always prompt with my bagels arriving still
warm every morning at the requested time. This is one of the
reasons I cruise..to be awaken every morning with my coffee and
bagels. Cruising suggestion..always pack about 50 $1's for
tipping.

The ships décor was beautiful. It was colorful without being
overwhelming. Yes, there are some areas of carpet in the hallways
on our floor that need replacing, but that kind of stuff never
bothers me.

The food is one thing I have always liked about Carnival. It is
consistent. The Lido deck was always clean and tables cleared
promptly. And if you did not like the buffet that day, there is
always the pizza, burgers and hot dogs. We eat at the formal
sitting for dinner every night and most lunches. (never for
breakfast) We were in the Elation restaurant at the 6:15 seating.
Our waiters were excellent. The food in the formal dining room
again was consistent with Carnival's other ships. I only eat beef,
so I can tell you the sirloin will always be dry and a little
tough. (mainly because I tell them to "burn it") The rest of the
beef dishes are fine. This time, the sirloin was a little better
than usual. While I have dined at many 5 star restaurants..I am not
picky. Basically, as long as I don't have to cook it..I am happy.
My family enjoys the soups and the desserts. We have always been
able to order as much of whatever we wanted without question. By
the second night, Chedenjive (our waiter) automatically brought me
an extra chocolate dessert. Our bar waitress Jana automatically
brought my son is Coke after the first night. Chedenjive took the
time to write down our names and every night called us by name when
asking for our order or talking with us. Very impressive. And after
the second night, when I ordered by beef entrée.he would say " I
know, burn it!"

The entertainment on board was fine. Hubby likes the shows and
Shout is his favorite. He doesn't care how many times he has seen
it. The comedian the first night promised his midnight show would
be saucy.but that there would not be one 4 letter word.and guess
what ...he kept his word. We don't go to the midnight comedy shows
because, personally, I find the language ignorant and insulting.
Anyone can say 4 letter words. But when he said his show would be
different, we took a chance and he really delivered. He provided a
hilarious, intelligent midnight show. I am so sorry that I don't
remember his name, but he is completely bald and about 55 years
old.so if you get the chance to hear him.don't miss it. The rest of
the entertainment was the usual you would expect from Carnival. The
karaoke was fun, but there were a lot of kids (5 - 11) this time
that did not have parents. And their constant running on stage when
someone was singing and screaming was more than I could handle.
They swarmed Jenny (the karaoke social host) like a beehive the
entire time, where adults could not even get to her to ask a
question or hand in a request. There was plenty of karaoke,
(afternoon and night) but the night session should be for folks 16
and older. By 10 or 11 pm, there are a lot of drunk folks in there
and that is no place for a 6 year old little girl by herself.much
less the 8 and 9 year olds that were on stage doing pelvic thrusts
like Madonna. Cruising suggestion, if you do karaoke a lot and have
your own custom cd's.take them. The selection varies greatly from
ship to ship. The karaoke hosts have always been very careful with
my cds. They don't mind a bit.

I can't speak to the Casino or Spa, since I don't do either.
Everyone in the casino seemed to be having a good time. I can see
why Carnival is making her a smoking ship, though. The casino was
only about half full most of the time. This is a money maker for
Carnival. And after all, this is still a business.

Pat (the soloist on the Promenade) was wonderful. We have sailed
with him before and he actually remembered me. (I haven't figured
out if that is a good thing.) His voice and instrumental talent are
the best I have heard on a Carnival ship. He is usually on the
Spirit and will be returning to her this September. He was just
filling in for the usual guy that has held this spot since the
Paradise sailed in '98. The guy in the piano bar was willing to let
anyone sing (and even had the books with the lyrics) but he could
only play the songs in the keys he had learned them in. Being a
pianist myself, I know that any good musician can transpose. While
he seemed nice enough, he did not seem to enjoy what he was doing.
It was just a job and it showed. He spent more time telling us
Americans (he was from Scotland) what we were doing wrong in our
country and criticizing our religion.than entertaining us. This
wasn't part of his "act". (I know the difference) So, I just didn't
go in there any more. The Asian band in the back lounge was
consistently good as well. The talent they have in the back lounge
always surprises me. There usually isn't anyone in there and the
bands are some of the best I have heard. Unfortunately, I can't be
in two places at once. Karaoke and listening to Pat won out over
listening to the Asian band. Pat does mainly country, so if you
like a mixture of dance music..the back lounge is the place to be.
I only set foot in the disco (Rex) one time.just to say I had been
there. Lots of folks were having a great time, but it just wasn't
my thing.

We sailed the Paradise so that we could experience the
non-smoking ship at least one time before she changes over. We
usually go out of New Orleans, Port Canaveral or Tampa and don't
get all the way down to Miami..because I don't like to fly. We
sailed the Eastern route, since we have done the Western so many
times. The ports were fine.

Nassau: We had been there before. We love aquariums, so we
headed to The Dig. We arrived by 7:30am which means we got to walk
around it for free. (the kiosk to pay the admission does not open
until 8am) Since we have been there before (and paid the $100.00
for our family to view it). we did not feel badly viewing it this
time for free. We had a wonderful visit. We returned to the ship
for lunch. We then walked down to the straw market to shop and grab
a frozen marq. at Senor Frogs. It was very safe and lots of fun.
And now they have the little shops right at the ship.

La Romana: This was the only port we had never been to before.
Since we have a special needs child, we don't do ship excursions.
He can't last 3 or 4 hours that the excursions entail. Since we
don't speak Spanish at all, we were at a disadvantage. However, we
just grabbed at taxi at the green taxi building. There is a sign
with all the taxi charges plainly listed. There is young man who
speaks fluent English to help you get a taxi to where ever you want
to go. True, our taxi driver did not speak English. However, we
have found that a good attitude and a smile will pretty much get
you where ever you want to go. I must admit that we are spoiled
with ports like Cozumel (where you can pick up and drop a taxi all
day long where ever you go). That is not the way it is done here.
You hire a taxi driver for the entire trip and you do not pay him
until you arrive back at the ship. We wanted to go to Altos De
Chavon for an hour. For a family of 4, it was $20. The sign at the
taxi stand spells out completely how much each additional hour is.
It is about a 10 minute drive. We walked around for about an hour
and then had the driver take us back to the ship. We were gone
about 1 ½ hours, but he did not charge us any additional fee. Just
$20 bucks. (of course, we tipped him $10) He was Cuban (he had a
green shirt on). Although he did not speak English, I was able to
understand that he has 2 granddaughters and 1 grandson in Miami. He
was so nice. If you want to do a beach, the charge for 2 hours to
Bayhibe was $45.00 round trip. (for 4 people) Again, your driver
waits for you. Our driver sat in the shade and talked, while we
walked about Altos. It was so clean and so nice. We saw the
amphitheater and church. No one hassled us. The view was beautiful.
We felt very safe. The taxis were new, air conditioned 9 passenger
buses. Not paying the driver until the end and having him wait
around was different for us, but we got use to it quickly. We had
planned to take the shuttle to the Marina before grabbing a taxi to
Altos.but our little one wasn't up to that much that morning.

St Thomas: We have been to this port several times before.
Usually hubby and older son snorkels, while younger son and I bum
around at a beach. This time, they all just wanted to go sit on a
beach. Personally, I would recommend grabbing a taxi to the ferry
($ 7 per person one way) and then taking the ferry to St John ($6
round trip) The ferry ride is about 30 minutes from downtown. Our
table mates did this and it was about $20 per person for
transportation. They said the beach was beautiful. We did not do
this, again because the water was a little choppy and our youngest
son would not do well. We just grabbed a taxi to Coki Beach. Again,
$7 per person one way. Be prepared, this beach is not what we
usually would describe as a beach. It was clean, but very, very
small. We are use to huge long beaches. This is not the case. But
it does have what we enjoy. The boys play in the waves, while Dad
and I sit in the shade at Uncle Buddy's enjoying the beans and rice
(which are the best) and a drink..while watching them. Uncle
Buddy's is at the far end of the beach (away from the snorkeling
and scuba activity). We were back at the ship by lunch. Afterward,
we went shopping at the stores right at the ship. They had many
stores without having to go back into town. Our taxi driver told us
that the deals are just as good at the ship as in town, without
having to hire a taxi. The days at sea were fun and relaxing. Jeff
Bronson (our CD) was wonderful. He made as few announcements as
possible. He was always upbeat and you can tell he loves what he
does. Sara (a social host) was adorable. And they had the usual
fare of fun activities. The Talent Show was so much fun. Be aware
that they use the "first come, first serve" method for the talent
show. You must be one of the first 8 people signed up that morning.
Cruising suggestion: if you are not in the top 8, go to rehearsal
anyway. We had one lady that signed up to tap dance and discovered
she could not use tap dance shoes on the stage floor. So sadly, she
could not perform. Another person who had come to rehearsal was put
in her slot. I can not praise Chris (the sound guy) enough. He was
so kind and willing to do whatever we needed to help us. Eric and
his orchestra were fabulous. They learned a song from India (the
lady sang it in her native language of Hindi) in 5 minutes and did
an great job. All the folks that run the shows made us feel like
celebrities. Everything they did was with a wonderful attitude.
After dealing with professionals every day, I know they get tired
of us amateurs . but they never let it show. We never felt like an
inconvenience. It was so much fun. Cruising suggestion: If you plan
to do the talent show and have your own accompaniment tapes or cd,
bring them. You can even use karaoke cds, as long as you realize
the words will not come up anywhere. The band knows a ton of songs
and are willing to do whatever it takes to help you, but they may
not know your song.

Debarkation: We got off the ship at 10am. The luggage was easy
to find. Be aware if you use the parking garage, it is quite a
distance from the building, if you choose to haul your own luggage
to the car. We always do this..but it was much further this
time.

A great cruise, as usual. Thanks Carnival!! Plus non-smoking as
a bonus. I am disappointed that they are changing this in September
to a smoking ship. Hopefully, Carnival will make some concessions
and have some smoking only outside (or in the casino) on some of
their cruises, for those of us that don't smoke.

We arrived in Miami on Saturday after a nice airplane ride from
Cincinnati. There were 8 in our group, 4 adults 4 kids. We stayed
at the Radisson, Priceline $50. It is about 1 block from the
metromover which is free! We took this to Bayside for dinner.

Embarkation was a breeze! Much easier than I expected. Make sure
when you get your documents if you are going to Nassau you fill out
the form before you try to embark. Sign and sail cards were taken
care of..and we were on the ship. The other family met us at
embarkation and now our final group of 6 adults and 6 kids were
assembled.

Our luggage arrived pretty quick. We met Cheng our room steward
who kept the kids happy with a total of 5 towel animals. They also
brought cookies to the kids on 2 separate evenings.

Since much of what we did had kids I will start with Camp
Carnival. It is great!! My youngest who is 5 looked forward to
going after breakfast in the morning and then back again for dinner
and staying until late. They did several

crafts and Becka and Tara are really good with the kids. My oldest
son is 9 and he was able to sign himself in and out. They did
several scavenger hunts and had many different activities. We did
utilize baby sitting as we had been given the 8:30pm dinner
seating. Camp Carnival is no charge until 10pm, so we used it after
10pm several nights. The youngest was usually sleeping when we
picked him up and the oldest was playing games or just hanging out
with his new friends. We did utilize walkie talkies and they worked
pretty well.

I am not much of a jewelry or shopping person so I can't speak
to the bargains available. The only port we shopped in was Nassau
and that was because one mom and her daughter were missing a
suitcase (which of course was waiting on her when we returned to
the ship). The 3 moms went by themselves to Nassau we took a taxi
to Paradise Island walked around Atlantis for a bit then walked to
the beach. Very pretty beach and we exited through another
exclusive resort that looked really nice. The dads and older boys
did a half day reef fishing trip ($60pp) and had fun doing
that.

On our stop at La Romana we took a taxi to Bayahibe beach. The
water was comfortable and very calm. We all had a great time here.
Ended up buying a painting from a guy with a stand on the
beach.

Next stop St Thomas. One of our party had been to Trunk Bay
before so we took a taxi to the ferry then another taxi to the
beach. The surf was a little rough here, but the water temperature
was nice and I did my first snorkeling trip. There is a decent
shower facility here with facilities and snack bar and a place to
rent snorkel vests and other gear. I did like that there was a life
guard on duty on the beach and one out near the reef on a surf
board. I have never seen such beautiful water as I saw going into
St Thomas and at Trunk Bay.

We did all our trips on our own. Taxi rides were a bit more than
we anticipated, possibly because we had such a large group and kids
are charged regular fare. I guess the best advice here is negotiate
before getting in the vehicle with anyone.

All the staff from our waiters Rohan and Alvaro to the social
hosts, Tina and Sara were very good. Cruise director Josh Riffe was
very amusing. I enjoyed the evening shows. Amy Sexton is a very
talented singer. One night the regular entertainment was unable to
land in Dominica (air controller strike) so Amy sang for 30minutes
along with the Paradise orchestra and it was very nice.

Dinners were alway great. I had soups as appetizer 3 nights and
they were all excellent. I am not an adventurous diner, but I
enjoyed all of my meals. We had dinner in the Elation dining room
at 8:30pm. I kind of wish we had done dinner a little earlier. They
had 4 seatings beginning at 5:45.

I did do laundry on the ship, my advice don't do it on a sea
day! Take your own detergent and quarters are available at the
pursers desk.

Debarkation was smooth. We did the express due to the time of
our flight and we were sitting at Miami airport by 9:30am. Taxi is
fixed rate from port to airport, $21 total.

Overall it was a great vacation and I am already looking forward
to the next one, without kids. I really enjoyed the smoke free
atmosphere. Enjoying a drink in the bar without smoke was great!
Too bad Carnival is discontinuing this. If you have questions
please feel free to e-mail me.

Back to reality...and it's a cold one here in Indiana. We
returned Sunday from the Eastern Carribean cruise. It was great.
Good weather in all ports, (a little shower in St. Thomas but it
didn't last long). Also, there are thirty bazillion jewelry stores
and every stinkin' one of them has someone out front trying to lure
you in. We personally weren't buying any jewelry so who knows which
shop you should be lured in to? Carnival does help you before that
port to recommend jewelers to go to, etc.

The ship embarkation was very efficient and took little time at
all. Same with debarkation. We arrived by Taxi to the terminal and
drove right up to a group of men taking your luggage and putting it
on these huge bins. Assumed it was a Carnival service...NOT! Those
guys almost chased us down for a tip. Very aggressive. Hubby went
back when he found change for a twenty and gave the guy a tip. He'd
actually left a sizeable amount of cash in the front of one of the
suitcases and had to go back to retrieve it from the

pile already accumulated. So, a tip was necessary at that point for
life or death purposes! kidding....?

We got our luggage in plenty of time for dinner but it was
casual that night anyway. Didn't matter. Formal night was the next
night and again on Friday night. People wore everything from soup
to nuts. Very classy sparkly gowns to simple pantsuits. Lots of
photographers taking pic's for you. The gallery where they are
later displayed gets rather congested and it's not easy to find
your own pic. Try and hit that when people have thinned out a bit.
Our cabin steward was a doll. They are so friendly and
accomodating. You almost feel guilty using the room because they
just come in after you and clean up. It's wonderful! The dining
room (we were in the Destiny/early seating, and Gus and Timea were
our servers) food was wonderful too. That first night one of the
dessert choices was chocolate Decadence. Don't miss it! My mouth is
watering. My husband and I agree that it's hard to imagine why
anyone would skip those three meals in the dining room and eat in
the other places. I do understand about kids and getting undressed
and redressed and all that. But it's worth the effort. For those
couples sailing alone, the meals are far superior in the dining
rooms. You meet so many people that way. We requested early seating
when we booked the cruise with our TA but were given late seating.
My husband went almost immediately to the Maitre'de (sp?) and
requested we be changed to early. We did get changed but evidently
65% of the people asked for early and obviously they can't
accomodate everyone. If you don't go right away and request a
change, chances are you may not get it. We like early because the
food is so rich and you get sleepy after you eat. Well, we do
anyway. This cruise, third of three, was our first early seating
meal and we did stay up much later than previous cruises. I do
recommend early for those who don't want to go to sleep right after
dinner. Don't miss the Gala Buffet either. WOW! very impressive.
Our first time to stay up late enuf' to see that. The shows that we
made it to were fun and had many talented people. We missed the
comedian and wish we hadn't. He was pretty good we hear.

Room service was FAST. Only did it once in late evening.
Surprised how quick they showed up.

We had never bought shore excursions before either and did this
time. A little dissapointing but only because you just don't get
enough time anywhere. Bahamas we did the Blue Lagoon and while it's
absolutely gorgeous there isn't enough time to do that and see the
city sights. Next time we'd go on our own there. Dominican Republic
was just okay. I'm not real sure why this is a Port. We went up by
shuttle to the Altos de Chevon village. Pretty, but not enough time
to even look around. It was in and out of there then down to the
river boat thing (land/water vehicle). Rum and coke, or beer,
flowing freely. Merengue (sorry, probably spelled wrong) music
playing and crew wanting you to get up and dance with them. Not my
thing at all, but plenty of people got up and danced and had a
great time. The actual boat ride was slow and easy. Nice and safe
feeling for chickens like me. Get back into the shuttle and back to
the ship. Nice, friendly people all around. Oh, they drove us
through the resort area of Casa de Campos first and that was time
consuming. I kind of think they are trying to drum up foreign
touristry which is totally understandable, however, we really could
have skipped that part of the trip and spent more time up at the
village. I got mosquitoe bit about six times on that little jaunt,
so use bug spray before you go. I had to pay $6.25 for some
Caladryl lotion in the little market up there.

In St. Thomas we started by taxiing from the dock to the
shopping area of town. By 12:30 we had to be back at the dock for
the ferry over to St. John. Then we from the boat (ferry) to Trunk
Bay for snorkeling. They had the snorkel stuff there. It was in
good working order. The bay is so beautiful. Clear and warm and
wonderful. Again, not enough time. From dock to dock it's at least
45 minutes. Then from dock to Trunk Bay has to be at least 30
minutes or so. You get to snorkel for less than 2 hours, then
reverse the order. When we got back to the ship the line was HUGE.
Looked like everyone was returning at once. The shuttle dropped us
off as far from our ship as possible while still being on the dock.
There were 3 or 4 ships docked end to end and ours was at the far
end. Until you walk the length of those ships you can't imagine the
size of them.

What would we do differently next time? First, know that we are
always on a budget. We didn't chose the cheapest shore excursions,
but neither did we choose the most expensive. Some are very pricey.
We would probably be a little more adventuresome and go off on our
own little excursion.

In the Bahamas we would probably go to the Atlantis and look
around and then maybe the town tour. There are lots of taxi's
waiting o the dock to take you wherever you want to go.

In the Dominican Republic we wouldn't change anything. We
wouldn't want to stay on the ship, but neither did we want to spend
an arm and a leg. We were satisfied with the excursion as already
stated above.

In St. Thomas we would definitely go over to St. John again, but
probably on our own.

We stayed in Miami the night before and the night after cruise
day. Hotel InterContinental was very nice and close to the Bayside
Market, which is a fun place. The Four Ambassadors in the same
general area is a dive and I would never recommend it one bit.
Furthermore, we purchased it thru Hotwire and it was a rip-off.
I've emailed them and told them what I think about their promotion
of that place as a 3 1/2 star hotel. We paid at least 60.00 more
for the room than what we would have paid by contacting them
ourselves. Be sure and go over to South Beach and experience that!
WOW! Not a good place for children though! Too much skin showing,
and saw several illicit deals go on right there in front of us.
(Prostitution and drugs) There are plenty of "normal people" but
definitely in the minority.